iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 12h

Correct -- look at the huge drop in VMT here in WA over the last 30 years, a period in which the state's population nearly doubled. People want to drive less. They clamor for it and will pay a premium for it. frontiergroup.org/resources/wh...

Chart showing change in VMT per capita from 1994 to 2024

130

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 01/10/2026

Sure looks to me like Bob Kettle knew for a year and a half that SPD had massively expanded its surveillance capabilities without a public vote and…just sat on that knowledge without doing anything about it. A massive scandal. www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

39830

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 27/09/2026

A wonderful day at the Market. Thanks in large part to it being closed to cars!

Pike Place Market with lots of pedestrians enjoying the street

0823

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 27/09/2026

I can’t remember the last time I saw a Sounders win in person. It’s a great sight to see!

4610

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 27/09/2026

At the *Seattle* (not Renton, Seattle) Sounders match against Minnesota

Tifo for recently deceased ECS co-president Tom Biro

1231

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 26/09/2026

For those curious about where the Sounders are considering a new stadium, it's here -- north of IKEA, east of Southcenter Mall, alongside I-405.

Google Map screenshot of Renton, Washington, with Seattle Sounders FC Front Office marked with a red pin

340

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 24/09/2026

She went out of her way to thank him and his work on fiscal stability in her budget speech on Tuesday... wilson.seattle.gov/wp-content/u...

Text block that reads "Councilmember Strauss, thank you for your ongoing collaboration as Chair of our Budget Committee; your leadership will help the Council and the public deliberate on these proposals. Thank you also for your resolve and partnership fighting to get light rail to Ballard back on track, your leadership in expanding our utility discount program, and your foresight in establishing the JumpStart fund reserve that is critical to stabilizing our City budget."

1140

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 15/09/2026

Hearing lots of stories of kids coming home starving because SPS only gave them 15 minutes to eat lunch, and barely any time to play. Whereas across the lake, Juanita Elementary offers 30 minutes of lunch and 55 minutes of recess. And is doing great academically. Why is SPS so bad at this?!

Daily schedule at Juanita Elementary School

6678

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 12/09/2026

Hi! I read the full report. And I think you generally make good points but disagree about taxes. Seattle has to consider Bellevue and other cities, yes. But nationally we match up well. More importantly though, a city’s economic development is about so much more than taxes.

Chat showing Seattle taxes compared to competitors

120

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 04/09/2026

Not the least bit surprising as someone who grew up in SoCal and spent 8 years in NorCal mydialect.us/quiz-standar...

mydialect map with a lot of red in California and a lot of blue in the south

151

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 03/09/2026

Without saying your age, what is your favorite movie that came out when you were 20 years old?

230

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 02/09/2026

Yep. These slides from a recent teacher training have been circulating lately. Last year my 6th grader said he was told to turn in his essays to an AI app that provided feedback and even graded it. I was horrified. Parents have been raising concerns and testifying but so far board hasn't acted.

"Seattle AI Literacy" slides including language about "Deliver AI Literacy instruction to students K-12"

Slides labeled "Expectations for Students K-5" and "Expectations for Students - 6-12" that lay out "using AI in an educational Setting"

5396

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 01/09/2026

25 years ago today I moved to Seattle. I didn't expect to stay, and initially didn't -- I moved to Monterey in 2007. But I came back in 2011, apparently to stay. Seems like a smart move!

Photo of SoDo and downtown Seattle under gray skies, taken on September 1, 2001

142799

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 31/08/2026

Brandi Kruse is also excited by it

150

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 31/08/2026

Notable that the right-wingers at Future 42 are in love with SPS Superintendent Ben Shuldiner’s attack on the Seattle Education Association that he sent out to parents last night via email.

1174

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 31/08/2026

Shuldiner thinks that because he was once a union member it excuses his appalling behavior in 2026 of pushing SEA to strike rather than compromising and abandoning unpopular changes to special education. Which side are you on?

Text block that reads: I have a long history of fighting very hard for labor. In college, I co-founded the Progressive Student Labor Movement, I was part of the inaugural Union Summer program where I went door-to-door trying to unionize daycare workers in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. I was an active member of both the teacher’s union and principal’s union in New York. I was even part of a professor’s union. I went to a summer camp where one year I slept in the Eugene V. Debs bunk and another year slept in the Joe Hill bunk. My grandfather started an apprentice union in the Brooklyn Navy Yard with Howard Zinn. Needless to say, I care very very deeply about worker’s rights and collective bargaining.

5262

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 30/08/2026

Wow. SEA says Seattle Public Schools walked away from the bargaining table tonight rather than discuss the district’s controversial proposal to make sweeping changes to special education. This could force a strike on Wednesday. The school board needs to intervene and force SPS back to the table.

Text block that reads “SPS walked away from the table tonight. Talks broke down and there are no talks scheduled. The district continues to insist on Special Education cuts that would hurt kids, damage learning outcomes, and add to the pressure on educators. It wants to pay us less than inflation, despite the union’s willingness to move multiple times. And the employer’s proposals do not provide any meaningful relief for many educators.

SEA has made it clear that we’re here to bargain. We have spent hours trying to find a way forward for Special Education; we couldn’t find a way to meet their interests without causing harm. We are ready to come back to the table at any time and are concerned that with 4 days before the students expect to return, this is not the time to walk away.”

34215

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 28/08/2026

I did not know we were having a partial lunar eclipse tonight. Now I know!

Photo of partial lunar eclipse viewed from north Seattle

2712

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 27/08/2026

Yes, but once bargaining finally began SPS doesn’t appear to have shown urgency. And if SEA is accurate here from their Tuesday message, SPS seems to be just fine with a strike. Both sides need to show flexibility and movement. prod.cdn.everyaction.com/emails/van/A...

Text block that reads “Today was a very frustrating day of bargaining. We met in the large group with SPS and received a package counterproposal from them that showed little if any movement on our biggest subjects: Special Education supports, respectful pay, and class size reduction.”

120

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 22/08/2026

Was there anything really substantive or groundbreaking about Kettle’s press event? No. Does he have substantive criticisms of how the mayor and SPD responded to the shooting? Also no. Who launched the OIG investigation? Mayor Wilson. The response “was textbook” Kettle acknowledges.

1190

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 22/08/2026

Media bias on display: the Seattle Times gives a massive headline to a City Councilmember making a mountain out of a molehill about the timing of a press conference. Nowhere on the Times site (as of 8:45pm) do they cover a genuinely major mayoral announcement about public safety on the roads.

510515

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 17/08/2026

Sounders vs Vancouver. How will this Cascadia match go? #ebfg #savethecaps

Soccer teams playing on a green pitch in a stadium with fans

A tifo banner that reads “Always Here, Always Proud”

218714

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 16/08/2026

Most suburbs built in Western WA after 1980 have the power lines undergrounded as part of the construction of the housing development. Here's a random street in the Klahanie neighborhood in Sammamish:

Google Maps Streetview screenshot of a suburban neighborhood in eastern King County, WA. There are tall leafy green trees and a street light. There are no visible power lines.

110

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 08/08/2026

Sweet, glorious relief in the form of clean air is finally on its way to the Puget Sound region

Screenshot of PurpleAir site showing red, orange, yellow, and green dots with numbers that represent AQI readings, on a map of the Puget Sound region

1211

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 05/08/2026

There’s a lot of talk about fare gates, and sure, let’s do it. But the real money is in cracking down on car tab evasion. Here’s the cost to renew my electric vehicle registration in Seattle. The $684 is the motor vehicle excise tax for Sound Transit. A lot of people aren’t paying it.

WA Dept of Licensing car registration renewal notice

8808

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 02/08/2026

Former Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison, who lost her reelection bid by 34 points last year, absurdly calls for a recall of Mayor Katie Wilson

Screenshot of tweet from Ann Davison that ends: “Time to say it out loud: recall.”

1825832

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 27/07/2026

*Two* headlines on the front page about this right now. WTF. How is this the most important aspect of the Seattle Center shooting for Seattle residents to read?

Screenshot of Seattle Times website showing headlines

2171

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 27/07/2026

Post a perfect album from the 1990s

0160

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 22/07/2026

Two votes dropped off at the Northgate ballot box for @niluj.bsky.social, @ronpdavis.bsky.social, and Seattle’s libraries!

A hand holds two ballot envelopes in red next to a white and blue ballot drop box

0484

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 18/07/2026

Friday food trucks at the park in Victory Heights (between Northgate and Lake City), just around the corner from our house. Close the street, gather the people, it’s a wonderful tradition!

People standing in street at food trucks with families at a park in the background

0181

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 14/07/2026

In case there was any doubt about who I’m cheering for today #allezlesbleus 🇫🇷 🇫🇷 🇫🇷

Man in glasses and short hair wearing a blue French national team jersey from 2006 - number 10 for Zidane

030

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 11/07/2026

A great day for San Clemente - which you can get to via train, we’re stopped at the station right at the foot of the pier. (This was the destination of my very first train trip in 1983.)

020

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 11/07/2026

Evening in San Diego. This is pretty great.

Pedestrianized street in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood - new apartment buildings flank the street with lights strung over the street and lots of people sitting in red chairs

4181

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 10/07/2026

I really dislike full wrapping of a train car that obscures the view out the window. (This is on a Pacific Surfliner train rolling through Mission Viejo)

Blurry view of palm trees from a train window

2421

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 06/07/2026

MHA now brings in maybe 6% of affordable housing dollars, while leaving thousands of homes that are ready to begin construction sitting there unbuilt. City Hall needs to ignore the critics, who are wrong on the basic facts, and move ahead with the MHA Housing Accelerator proposal.

Chart labeled "Affordable Housing Revenues Doubled - But MHA Revenues Down Over 70%"

1101

Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 06/07/2026

The Seattle Times says it wants “honest representation” in City Hall - and then endorses the deeply dishonest Julie Kang. Here’s Kang on cameras and SOAP orders in February (left) and July (right).

Text block that reads:

“Right now, surveillance cameras cannot work because even though we know, or we’ve heard, that the cameras function differently than the national ones and we are doing it the Seattle way, we should not collect data, because if we have it, if we’re ever subpoenaed, we don’t have control over it,” Kang said.

Kang said she’d rethink her stance on surveillance if the sociopolitical climate changes, but right now the thought of surveillance causes people to feel anxiety and fear.

Kang also disagreed with her predecessor on the SOAP and Stay Out of Drug (SODA) zones, saying she doesn’t support these policies. She cited the opposition of newly elected Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans to the SOAP and SODA zones, saying Evans is the expert.

Text block that reads:

Kang supports Moore’s ordinance to create Stay Out of Areas of Prostitution, which would allow police to arrest people known to cause problems. City Attorney Erika Evans said she will not enforce SOAP.

In addition, Kang supports the closed-circuit cameras along Aurora Avenue North that are linked to the Seattle Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center.

1273